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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28580037">Moments in Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>K.C. Undercover (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:20:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,450</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28580037</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Marisa and K.C.'s relationship told through moments in time, from the beginning as Marisa remembers it, to the beginning of their future.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Marisa Miller/K.C. Cooper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>To Marisa, it’s as obvious as the fact that the sky is blue. She’s known she loves K.C. the first time she sees her. It’s the {third grade/first grade} and Marisa is there for the second time. She had spent her morning with her friends who had gone onto fourth grade, listening to them talk about the boys they thought were cute but didn’t want to approach, and she had thought they were joking. It isn’t until her first class when she sees a young K.C. reading alone in the corner that she thinks she understands what the other girls had been talking about.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>K.C. is smarter than Marisa, that much is obvious from their first meeting, but the other girl doesn’t make her feel less than for having to repeat the third grade. Their friendship blossoms quickly from the first day, growing stronger until Marisa doesn’t really recall how she went through life without K.C.’s presence in her life. She meets the parents and begins spending more time at the Cooper’s than anywhere else. When K.C. finally begins telling Marisa about any boys she thinks are cute, Marisa finally realizes that her view of the other girl might be unusual and unreciprocated. It doesn’t really bother her, Marisa is just excited to have K.C. in her life, even if the thought of holding the other girl’s hand sends a flutter to her heart.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So through the years, Marisa tries, and fails, to think of anyone else even a fraction of how she views K.C.. Despite her friend's perceptive nature, it remains that K.C. can never tell when someone has a crush on her, leaving Marisa to hope for a different future in peace.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>K.C. had always been cute. From the young girl she had been, to the teen she was now, Marisa had always known her friend to be adorable. The first time she ever realizes that K.C. got hot is also around the time she gets let into the Cooper family secret.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There had always been a wide variety of exercise equipment in the Cooper household, not that Marisa had ever used it. K.C. had never invited Marisa over while she was working out, or training, or being fit, mostly because she knew Marisa had very little interest in athletic endeavours. Knowing now that K.C. not only had a </span>
  <em>
    <span>black belt</span>
  </em>
  <span>, of all things, in karate, but various training in other martial arts and an actual need to be prepared for life threatening danger, Marisa was a little more interested in knowing just how skilled her friend was.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She had been invited over for three, giving K.C. time for her morning training and to be get ready for their study date, but Marisa has had the ‘Come over whenever, you know where the key is’ pass since they were eleven.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marisa had brought her textbooks, and had every intention of getting a headstart on the science K.C. was supposed to help her understand while learning more about all the work K.C. put into being a spy. What she was not prepared for however, was arriving to the sound of a body hitting the floor in the other room and hearing K.C. grunt. Marisa had gone through to the other room, to see a sweaty K.C., hair pulled away from her face with Ernie pinned to the ground in some type of hold Marisa didn't know the name of.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>K.C. had seemed startled at her appearance, and Ernie had tried to flirt with her, but Marisa had moved to the corner of the room, prepared her textbooks, and told the siblings not to mind her presence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A dedicated two minutes of focusing on her work was interrupted by Ernie grunting as he hit the floor again. Marisa watched the siblings as Ernie got up to continue sparring. Watching as Ernie charged, Marisa’s gasped as K.C. used his momentum to lift him into a flip over her head, biceps flexing the whole time. Ernie was groaning on the ground, but Marisa didn’t care. Her eyes were drawn to K.C., in the middle of her trash-talking happy dance as she flexed and declared herself victorious. Marisa’s throat went dry as her eyes traced her friend's arms before forcing herself to look anywhere else. Anywhere else happened to be following the line of her friend’s neck towards her lips.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marisa was in a trance. Her friend was sweaty, and had been fighting her brother for however long, but K.C. had never been so attractive. In her daze, Marisa missed Judy coming into the room, and didn’t realize her presence until K.C. was flipped and landed next to Ernie on the ground. Startled away from staring at her friend, Marisa brought her attention back to the book in her hand as the robot child mimicked K.C.’s previous dance and declared herself the real winner.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>K.C. excused herself to shower, and told Marisa to meet her upstairs, so Marisa took the time to calm her heart and stop thinking of the fact that K.C. was hot. Ernie and Judy gave her weird looks, but she stuck her tongue out at the both of them as she moved to gather her things and leave the room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marisa has wanted to kiss K.C. ever since she realized what kissing was. Less in the ‘I’ve been staring at your lips for an hour instead of my homework’ way one of her brief flings had tried with her and more in the ‘I’m in love with you and kissing you to show my love just seems natural’ way where she doesn’t really think about it too frequently.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Except after K.C.’s latest mission, it’s all she’s been able to think about. K.C. had told her all about the mission, and after a particularly distracting night watching K.C. train, Marisa had gone home and written her creative writing assignment on the entire mission. It hadn’t been on purpose but now K.C. had spent the past few days trying to help her get the assignment back resulting in them being stuck in a magic cabinet together.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Despite K.C.’s verbal attack and anger, which was justified, Marisa’s eyes had been focused on the lower half of her friend’s face. Eyes drifting over her strong jaw before locking onto her friend’s lips. They weren’t normally this close for this long, physically unable to move away from each other that now, it was all Marisa could think about.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>In the midst of staring at her friend, she came to the realization that K.C. was taller than her. Marisa knew that K.C. was tall, the other girl was 5’10 after all, but Marisa normally compensated for the difference her 5’7 height brought by wearing 4-inch heels. K.C. had one of her lifted shoes on, bringing her back to being taller than the blonde and Marisa felt her mouth go dry. Most of the guys she went for to get over K.C. were taller than she was, after all, she had a thing for height differences. It was just easier to not think about being with K.C. when she wore her heels. Now though, all she could think about was K.C. leaning down to kiss her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>K.C. wanted to know why Marisa stole her story, and she couldn’t exactly say ‘It was an accident, watching you work out left me thinking about you all night while I tried to finish my assignment and it just happened’ so she ended up revealing that while K.C. was gone she stayed home </span>
  <em>
    <span>waiting </span>
  </em>
  <span> for the other girl. It worked out for her, K.C. and Marisa had a moment and everything was okay again, but then the Great Formini stuck a sword into their box and Marisa wished for the first time that she was anywhere but practically in K.C.’s arms.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Practically eight years of knowing the other girl, of harbouring this crush and trying to get over it, and Marisa has never told a soul. So imagine her surprise when Ernie drags her away from K.C. down the street to the nearest fro-yo shop and instead of flirting with her like she expects, says he understands she doesn’t feel the same he just wishes he didn’t lose whatever they could have had to K.C. of all people.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She splutters for a moments before choking out, “We would never have had anything!” It doesn’t occur to her to deny her truth and she continues, “I’ve been into K.C. for eight years, Ernie. You weren’t even on my radar!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Ernie’s shit-eating grin reveals her mistake a little too late.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>By the time K.C. catches up to the both of them, Ernie has finished a large fro-yo and made enough jokes that Marisa fears her face will never stop being as red as it is now. K.C. eyes the both of them before smacking Ernie’s arm for ‘stealing her friend’, and Marisa takes the time it takes for K.C. to order to get the blush on her face to recede.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When K.C. comes back to their table and brings a spoon to Marisa’s lips for her to have a taste, something Marisa thought was quite normal for their friendship, and Ernie smiles at her from across the table as he flits his eyes between the absolute lack of distance between the two friends, Marisa starts to regret letting Ernie know.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When the three of them are walking back to the Cooper household, and Ernie whispers that she might not be so alone in her crush, and could have a chance, Marisa starts to rethink her regret and thinks that maybe having an outside set of eyes could be beneficial.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>K.C. is the kind of person who is gorgeous without even really being aware of the impact she has on those around her. People flirt with her constantly without K.C. even realizing that it’s happening. Marisa had grown used to it, feeling jealousy towards people who never really even got to experience a fraction of K.C.’s light was useless, so jealousy was a mostly foreign emotion in the friendship they shared. Until Ernie disagreed with her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A girl had moved to their highschool, and after watching Marisa all morning, had found her alone and began flirting with her. Marisa thought she was pretty sure, but she really had nothing on K.C.. The other girl told a tale of training seeing-eye dogs, and saving whales, and if Marisa had been paying more attention she might have questioned it, but instead K.C. walked by at the same moment Jolie asked her to go out and meet some of her friends, and the absent ‘Yes’ that slipped out wasn’t exactly meant.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Ernie had informed Marisa that the Cooper’s were going to be having a barbecue later and had invited her earlier in the day so she could be near K.C. (not that she needed his invitation, K.C. had invited her as soon as she was aware of it), but when he saw her later that day with a perky redhead hanging on her arm, he had extended the invitation to Jolie as well who eagerly accepted for the both of them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The barbecue had started with the exact attention Marisa did not want from the Cooper family. When Jolie had introduced herself as her girlfriend, Kira and Craig had both looked at each other before welcoming her to the area and smiling, Ernie had just raised his eyebrow at her, Judy had rolled her eyes (which, rude), and K.C. had seemed upset. Like, genuinely, actually annoyed. Part of her was worried K.C. was upset she had brought a girl over, who she was apparently dating now, but she knew K.C. and knew that couldn’t be it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Ernie had pulled her aside while Craig was trying to wingwoman her (she thinks? She has no idea why on Earth Craig would say she was good on a grill, but it was getting her away from Jolie who wouldn’t move from her side, so to the grill she goes), and informed her that K.C. was suffering from an acute case of ‘Spy-anoia’ leading her to believe that Jolie was only here to get close to the Cooper family and was just using Marisa. Except Ernie said that it wasn’t the only reason she was annoyed. According to him, K.C. was jealous that someone was giving her so much attention and secretly wanted it to be her, even if she wouldn’t admit it to herself. Which was ridiculous.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>K.C. had disappeared halfway through the party and Jolie had followed almost immediately after, so Marisa excused herself with a fake headache, and followed Jolie. It’s not that she really cared, one way or the other, but K.C.’s presence was the only reason she was even at the barbecue with the Cooper’s (who she loved more than her own family, most times), and if Jolie was causing problems with thoughts of paranoia, Marisa was just going to end their relationship because she had very little invested in this and just wanted to be near her friend.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Showing up to the gym she had spent so much time decorating in, to see things thrown about and K.C. pinned to the floor, Marisa almost wanted to run in and help, but she didn’t know what she could do. Instead she watched as K.C. took down Jolie, who was apparently a russian spy and thankfully did not really have feelings for Marisa (which just saved Marisa a break-up), and then helped her friend drag the spy away to be picked up by the organization. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>K.C. had tried to make sure Marisa was okay, but she had brushed off the concern with a simple ‘relax, babe’ and hugged her friend instead. They went back to the barbecue, intent to ignore the Jolie sized hole at the party, and Marisa got to enjoy Ernie coughing ‘jealous’ under his breath as K.C. pulled Marisa to the table by the arm.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Brett Saga</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The one and only time Marisa will ever admit to being jealous came in the form of Brett Willis. She maintains that jealousy has no place in their friendship, but his presence in their life made Marisa do something she would have never thought she was capable of. The relationship between Brett and K.C., however fake it started, definitely seemed like it could head in the one direction Marisa feared, and when Brett flirted with her moments after K.C. leaves the room, she does something horrible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even though she knows she has no feelings for Brett, he’s the opposite of K.C. in every way that matters to Marisa, she flirts back and tells K.C. that she wants to date him. K.C. becomes overly involved in their relationship, seeming to care more about it’s progression that Marisa can bring herself to, and she hates it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hates that Brett and his stupid face hold so much of K.C.’s attention, and even though she knows she’s hot, Marisa is no K.C. and Brett is definitely into the other spy. Marisa is purposefully blocking any relationship the two could be having because she’s jealous of what Brett could be with K.C., so she bows out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa gives K.C. space, ignores Ernie’s sympathy, declines any invites to dinner she receives from any member of the Cooper clan and leaves Brett so he can pursue something with K.C. Marisa hates that she got in the way in the first place, and hates that no matter how hard she has tried, K.C. is still the only person who manages to get her heart racing. So she avoids them all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ernie, curse that small nerd, convinces her to study with him and she agrees because K.C. is gone on another mission with Brett. Marisa arrives, eats her first dinner with the Cooper’s in over two weeks, and chokes on her dinner when Brett comes strolling into the room with K.C. under his arm and an affectionate ‘babe’ leaving his lips. Ernie cringes at roughly the same time she does, and she can’t bring herself to contribute anything to the conversation while the happy new couple is in the room. She leaves before Ernie can even explain her homework to her and spends the rest of the night working on school to distract herself from what she can’t have.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the next week or two, everytime she sees Brett, or hears him call K.C. babe, Marisa turns the other way. Which is how Marisa ends up running directly into Mrs. Cooper. The older woman told Marisa that they missed her at the Cooper household, and seeing Brett take up so much of K.C.’s time while not spending any time with Marisa was sad. Marisa made a vague promise of spending more time with K.C., and no Mrs. Cooper Brett was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>creating distance between the two best friends, she had just been busy. Kira had frowned at her and hadn’t seemed to believe her, but it wasn’t like Marisa was going to tell her the truth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She thinks about Kira’s concern for K.C. spending so much time with Brett, and finally calls K.C. back after a week of minimal conversation to learn about the concert, and decides that she can’t avoid her best friend forever. Unfortunately she returns to the Cooper household happy for all of two minutes before she realizes K.C. never returned home the night before. Three hours later, while she’s sitting on the couch with Kira, brainstorming where K.C. could possibly be, the other girl strolls through the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It takes more than two weeks for Marisa to figure out that the K.C. who had come back was more of a Fake.C., but at that exact moment when she sees the other girl, traces over her features with the eye of someone who has been in love with the other girl for eight years, she sees no difference. She rushes to hug K.C., slamming into the girl with all the strength she can manage, and then her and Cooper parents are right behind her and the four of them stand there holding each other while K.C. spins a tale of car trouble and getting lost. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She tries to restore some form of normalcy with her friend, who maintains her relationship with Brett, and slowly starts increasing how much time she spends with the other girl. When everything is revealed later, she kicks herself for not being able to notice sooner, but it takes her until Fake.C. immediately agrees to coming to a party that it really all starts clicking for Marisa. She hasn’t put it all together yet, doesn’t know if K.C. has been brainwashed or replaced somehow, but Marisa is thrown.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa expresses her concern to Ernie, but he dismisses her concern with jokes, and before she can really explain why it matters, Fake.C. comes through the door. Marisa decides if no one is going to believe her, she was going to take matters into her own hands. Ernie texts her later, before the party, that she’s being paranoid and most likely jealous of the Brett situation but she knows there’s more. So, mere feet from the back door of the house, Marisa throws caution to the wind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Getting as close as she can to the other girl, she says “I’m so glad we’re finally alone. We haven’t been able to do this since Brett came into the picture, but you told me three weeks ago that you loved kissing me and Brett wouldn’t change that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fake.C. gives her a smile and a quiet ‘yeah’, before Marisa pushes her theory by actually kissing the other girl. At first, Marisa thinks maybe this is the real K.C., but then she’s being kissed back and flipped so she’s pressed into the door. Kissed like the two of them had been doing this for years and definitely had conversations about continuing to do this despite the presence of a boyfriend, and Marisa knew. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She pushes the image of kissing her best friend out of her mind, and pushes the other girl away, and manages to gasp out, “You’re not the real K.C.!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The doorknob slips out of her hands the moment she feels it as Fake.C. pulls her away from the door and kicks her in the stomach. She tries to run, or yell, but Fake.C. has her in a hold and only moments later, she begins to lose consciousness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she wakes up, her head is in the real K.C.’s lap, and some rude man and Fake.C., Bernice apparently, are telling her friend that she won’t be alone anymore. Marisa tries to use a little humour to cope with the fact that someone named Bernice has kept her friend locked up for two weeks, two weeks that Marisa didn’t notice, but Bernice just spits that they’re ‘perfect for eachother’, and Marisa feels the need to clarify that she doesn’t like her, as memories come back as to how exactly she realized Fake.C. was a fake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s not exactly easy to remove herself from K.C.’s lap, resulting in a sore arm from the position they had locked her in, but she distracts herself from the warmth of her friend with lipstick, inadvertently leading to K.C. freeing them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a blur escaping from the barn, though probably much easier to do since Kane wasn’t expecting K.C. to escape. They end up stealing a car, which Marisa manages to find the keys for, and Marisa drops K.C. off at the organization to stop their ex from ruining things, while Marisa heads home as K.C. doesn’t want her to get hurt in the upcoming fight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa is laying in bed later that evening, still awake reliving the memory of a fake best friend beating her and dragging her unconscious body to a barn in the middle of nowhere after pinning her to a door and giving her one of the best kisses of her life, when K.C. comes through her window. Marisa flinches away when the other girl reaches out to her, and then she realizes K.C. is crying, and then she’s crying. They spend the night holding each other, K.C. feeling paranoid after two weeks of confinement, and Marisa feeling guilty for kissing a doppelganger of her best friend and flinching away from the real thing when she reached out to her for comfort.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two of them end up at the Cooper household the next morning, and don’t spend a moment apart for the next three days. Ernie keeps smiling at the two of them, but Marisa knows she’s offering comfort to K.C. in an incredibly difficult time. So they book a trip to Miami together, until the organization (or the Cooper Clan) gets in the way of their plans and life starts getting back to normal. Or as normal as K.C.’s life can be when she doesn’t get to actually take time off work after a kidnapping, and Marisa spends the entire seven days apart miserable and complaining to Ernie about Craig ruining her week with K.C..</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Middle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The first time the flicker flame of hope ignites in Marisa’s chest, she has just come back from Miami. Her mom was supposed to pick her up from the airport, and the plan was for her to go home and wait for K.C. to tell her she was free and wanted to see her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To her surprise, as soon as her bag was in hand and she was lifting the sunglasses away from her eyes, a warm and familiar weight slammed into her back, almost causing her to lose her footing. There was a strength in the arms holding her, and the other girl kept the both of them upright as Marisa twisted around to come face to face with K.C.. The other girl was beaming as she smiled down at Marisa. Marisa was struck by the sudden desire to kiss the taller girl until they could barely breathe, gasping as they pulled apart, barely taking the time to fill their lungs before swooping in to kiss again. Marisa caught herself beginning to lean in, and realized she had somehow missed everything K.C. was saying, but it didn’t really seem to matter when K.C. grabbed Marisa’s bag with one arm and used the other to interlock their fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. put the bag in the car before opening Marisa’s door and helping her down into the car. K.C. drove them back to the Cooper household, filling the car with chatter. Marisa learned that Ernie had fought off a bad guy himself (though Ernie had called her an hour after it had happened), K.C. had been informed by the organization that she was banned from missions until she had been cleared for duty after a few therapy sessions to check in, and apparently K.C. hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in the entire time Marisa was in Miami.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They spent the rest of the day holed up in K.C.’s room, only really moving to use the bathroom or grab chargers for their laptops and phones. They spent hours laying in K.C.’s bed together, legs tangled as Marisa rested her head on K.C.’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was how Kira found them the next morning when she came to get them for breakfast. Marisa had been awake for a while by that point in time, just watching K.C. breathe, when the open door drew her attention. Kira had told her that breakfast would be ready in twenty, and then as she was leaving, offered Marisa a smile and told her that K.C. had been looking forward to this all week and it was exactly what she needed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa had woken K.C. up, smiling at the dopey grin that spread across the taller girl’s face when she realized Marisa was leaning over her. K.C. had raised her arm and moved some of Marisa’s hair behind her ear before resting her palm on Marisa’s cheek. The blonde froze, and fought an inner battle against the need to kiss her best friend, burning worse than her need to breathe, and the thought that she should really pull herself out of this situation and let her friend wake up in peace. Ernie ended up making the decision for her when he threw a pillow at the bed and yelled that he was going to eat all the breakfast. K.C. started yelling back and made to throw the pillow back, but Marisa threw herself off the bed and sped downstairs before their fight could really start.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was downstairs, heart hammering in her chest, where Kira bumped her hip and told her that she makes K.C. happy. Ernie had leaned onto his toes and slung his arms around her neck before he whispered that K.C. definitely had a crush on her, so she wouldn’t need to worry. The blush that lit up her face lasted through breakfast, and every look that K.C. sent her way brought it back in full force.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the first time in eight years Marisa thought that maybe her feelings could be returned.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing about Marisa screamed that she loved physical activity and actively wanted to work out. Yet after the neighbourhood watch fiasco, and spending even more time than she normally does watching K.C. work out or teach people how to fight, Marisa approaches K.C. and asks her to teach her a little self-defense.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa isn’t a fan of hitting things, or the way sweat feels on her skin, or even workout clothing, though she’ll make an exception for any athletic gear worn by K.C.. The reasoning she gave K.C. was maybe she could help in spy business, or use it to flirt, but mostly she still thought back to Bernice and how quickly and immediately Marisa had been overpowered and overwhelmed. She didn’t normally think of herself as a strong person, and definitely would never describe herself as a fighter, but she wasn’t going to make K.C. fight alone anymore, and she definitely was not going to let any of K.C.’s enemies get the drop on her if she could help her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. had agreed quicker than Marisa had thought she would and they set a date later that week to give Marisa time to actually buy something athletic. She ended up arriving at the Cooper household in a fuchsia tank top and navy blue yoga pants with her hair tied up in a high bun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa felt all the air leave her lungs before she had even done anything remotely athletic the second she saw K.C. in her black and white sports bra and yoga pants combo. Marisa was aware  that she was staring, but she couldn’t force her eyes away if she tried. K.C. had abs. Actual, honest to God abs, and muscles, and Marisa had willingly signed herself to be as close as possible to all of the skin she could see from her friend. Past Marisa was a blessing, even if future Marisa was going to end up sore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. started them off simple, stretching out their limbs and drawing Marisa’s eyes to various muscles as they flexed and stretched. Marisa realized about partway through the warm-up that she was definitely a little more than thirsty for her friend. It wasn’t until K.C. started trying to show Marisa the proper forms that her thirst became a bit of a problem.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. had started off at a distance, getting Marisa to mimic her, until they both realized Marisa wasn’t really a learn by seeing type of person. Then K.C. shifted into a hands-on approach. She slid behind Marisa, and moved her arms into a better position. A leg slid in between hers and began pushing her into a wider stance. Marisa hoped K.C. wouldn’t notice her blushing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. slid a hand down Marisa’s arm to her open hand to help Marisa make a fist. With a gentle smile, K.C. encouraged Marisa to swing at her. K.C. spent twenty minutes catching and blocking Marisa’s punches, every time giving a gentle suggestion or leading Marisa’s arms through a different motion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Though Marisa could feel a burn starting in her arms, she was ready for the next stage of whatever learning how to fight entailed. K.C. decided the next phase was blocking, which only led to Marisa realizing that blocking was never going to be her preferred method of avoiding a punch, because even with K.C. barely putting power into her hits, Marisa could feel a bruise beginning to form.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then K.C. throws a combo at her. Marisa, barely expecting it, does manage to bring her bicep up to protect her face, before K.C. grabs her and flips her onto the ground. Breathless and confused, Marisa only glares. Apparently they were moving onto sparring, and the goal was pin the other person to the ground. K.C. would pull her punches and keep any gymnastic level acrobatic fight moves on the minimum, and Marisa could go wild, only because K.C. was a black belt in karate and was not at all worried about Marisa hurting her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The spar started off simple, Marisa managed to avoid a hold and pushed K.C. away from her with a kick, and then K.C. had ducked under her swing and grabbed her in a hold that left Marisa flustered and fully aware of K.C. pressed into her back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. seems to realize the position the hold puts her in at the same time, because she loosens her grip enough that Marisa manages to pull her arms down and use her momentum to actually flip K.C. onto the mat below them. K.C.’s surprise is mirrored by Marisa’s own, but Marisa recovers first. She manages to drop onto K.C., pinning her to the ground by the hips, and grabbing K.C.’s arms to pin them above her head. The two girls are close enough to breathe each other’s air, and Marisa flashes back to the magic cabinet and her desire to claim the other girl’s lips with her own. Her distraction lets K.C. flip them and Marisa finds herself held in the same position she had pinned K.C. in moments before. Marisa is completely aware of every point of contact between them, from her wrists held firmly in K.C.’s grasp, to where the other girl’s hips have pinned her own to the mat. Marisa suddenly can’t breathe. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. isn’t moving away, leaving her inches from Marisa’s lips. Marisa knows she wouldn’t be able to flip them over like K.C. had, she didn’t have the height or strength advantage to do anything, and K.C. certainly knew how to keep her pinned. Marisa probably would have remained on the mat even if it was just K.C.’s stare pinning her down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The only thing that stopped Marisa from leaning in, was Ernie’s sudden yelling from elsewhere in the house. K.C. got off of her, already yelling for her siblings, but not before Marisa saw what she thought was a rising blush. All she could do was lay where she was and groan into her hands as K.C. left the room, and left her to panic about her attraction to her friend.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The World As K.C. Sees It</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The first time K.C. realized she could probably, maybe, possibly, like Marisa more than she was supposed to was during her two week stay in Zane’s disgusting barn. She had liked Brett, maybe not as much as everyone thought, but enough to date him. Then he betrayed her, and ruined any potential romance she could feel for him, because who could possibly do that to someone? Especially when he says he actually liked her? Sure, liked her enough to sell her out. So she spent the first few days thinking of various ways she would love to kick Brett’s butt, and then after her guard threw her meal a few feet away from her reach, her thoughts shifted to how she might not make it out of the barn.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was hungry, though she was still being fed it was irregular, and missed her family. K.C. missed Marisa. The blonde had been distant ever since Brett had come into the picture, and though K.C. was oblivious, she wasn’t that bad. At first she had thought Marisa still liked Brett, but she avoided K.C. even when Brett wasn’t around so K.C. hadn’t known what to think. It left her feeling hollow knowing it wasn’t jealousy keeping Marisa away. Had she wanted it to be jealousy? Marisa always said that emotion had no place in their relationship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She spent two weeks alone, other than her rat, and she was beginning to realize she missed Marisa more than she missed the majority of people in her life. She missed the girl’s smile, and how she would cling to K.C. when she was excited, and now it was all she could think about. Did Marisa miss her? Or did she not even realize that K.C. was gone since Brett and his stupid father had replaced her with Bernice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thinking of the other girl had helped keep her calm, until they dragged the unconscious blonde into the barn. K.C.’s immediate thought was that she had finally lost it, but then they had thrown Marisa’s limp, unconscious body onto her lap, as they grabbed the blonde’s arm and locked it to a bar a foot or so from K.C.’s own. She watched the other girl’s eyes blink open and tried smiling down at her friend so she would know it was okay while trying to listen to Zane and Bernice. They were telling her she wouldn’t be alone since ‘the annoying loud-mouth had figured it out’. One hand had drifted down to land in Marisa’s hair while Zane continued speaking. K.C. was relieved to find that Marisa was okay when she started cracking jokes about Bernice’s name, which was completely fair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her attention was split between checking that Marisa was completely okay, and listening to Marisa tell Bernice that she ‘didn’t like her’ in response to Bernice saying they ‘were perfect for each other’, whatever that meant.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. managed to spot a bruise blossoming on Marisa’s jaw, and felt her heart clench, as Marisa lifted herself off of K.C.’s lap. Her worry for her friend was a growing force in her chest that only subsided when she realized Marisa was holding her laser lipstick by some miracle. K.C. devoted her focus to getting her and her friend out of the barn, off the farm, and herself safely to the organization to stop Brett and Bernice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mission accomplished, family reunited, and K.C. went to bed without fear for the first time in two weeks. Only to wake up a little past midnight, with panic gripping her chest. The other side was still out there. They had the ability to infiltrate families and the only one who had been concerned had been Marisa, until Bernice screwed up with eating meat. K.C. was terrified, and the only thing she could think of that would help would be making sure her best friend was okay, and holding her. So K.C. climbed out her second story window and ran to Marisa’s house. She pried open the window and was in her friend’s room before she could even think maybe she should have sent a text.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reaching for Marisa led to the blonde flinching, actually flinching, away from K.C.’s hand, and she was reminded that Bernice had hurt her friend while wearing her face. K.C. was in the bed holding Marisa before she realized they were both crying. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They spent most of the time after K.C.’s containment together, eating breakfast with the Cooper’s and ending most of their nights in K.C.’s room holding each other in the quiet of the night.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then Marisa had brought up Miami, and K.C. had known she needed to go, and her father had put her back on active duty before she even got a chance to breathe. So her next week was spent missing Marisa and talking to the organization about mandatory therapy before she could actually be cleared for duty, and the break was both refreshing and a horrible realization that not sleeping next to Marisa sucked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. made sure to be the first person to greet Marisa from Miami, telling her parents that she could get the blonde from the airport and then they would spend the evening together. K.C. had held Marisa’s hand and marvelled at how right it had felt as she drove Marisa to the Cooper household where they proceeded to cuddle and spend the entire day with their legs tangled together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa had ended up falling asleep first, when Ernie had come into K.C.’s room. He made eyes at the both of them before loudly whispering that it was ‘about time’ that the two of them got together. K.C. had practically choked on her tongue as she rushed to deny his accusations. That definitely was not the case, and she had no idea why he could have possibly thought that. She had thrown a pillow at Ernie and told him they were friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t until he had left laughing, that K.C. had seriously thought to question it. Ernie had said ‘about time’ like he was expecting it. She had missed Marisa more than she had ever missed someone before, and even being around the other girl had set her heart aflame. Was K.C. really that obvious about her feelings? If her brother could somehow figure it out when she didn’t even know how she felt, who else could possibly know?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. had fallen asleep with the smaller girl held in her arms, and questions burning in her brain, but she knew no matter what happened, it would be okay if they were together.</span>
</p>
<h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3><p> </p><p>
  <span>The crush only grows from the realization, and though Ernie makes jokes, K.C. would never admit to him that he’s right. Judy made one sarcastic comment too many, and K.C. had known Ernie was spilling secrets he had no proof of, so she had decided to throw Ernie around a little more than usual the next time they spar. It’s sparring that leads to K.C.’s current predicament.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa had wanted to spar, to learn how to fight in case she ever needed to, and K.C. had wanted to hold her and say that she would protect the shorter girl, but she had simply agreed before she could think too hard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa was supposed to be there in an hour, so K.C. was obviously still trying to think of what to wear. She didn’t know how Marisa would react to flirting, or if anything would even come of it, but K.C. wanted her friend to find her attractive. She wanted Marisa to want to be with her, and if she didn’t, K.C. would accept the answer and hope their friendship remained as strong as it is now. So K.C. decided the perfect outfit was a black and white sports bra and yoga pants combo that showcased her abs and arms. She wasn’t always the most confident, but Ernie had made a joke the week before that Marisa would swoon if K.C. even flexed in her direction, and she wasn’t going to listen to his advice on girls, but maybe using her assets wasn’t a terrible idea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So Marisa had shown up and they had started with the basics, proper form, blocking, throwing a punch, and maybe K.C. had allowed herself to get closer to the blonde. Pressed behind her to guide her hands, allowing her hand to drift down Marisa’s arm to help her make a fist. Then it had been time for them to spar. She had flipped Marisa, using the element of surprise to prepare the other girl for what a spar could lead to and had explained the rules.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The spar started off simple, Marisa managed to avoid her hold and pushed K.C. away with a kick. K.C. had proceeded to duck under Marisa’s swing and grabbed her in a hold that allowed K.C. to press herself fully into Marisa’s Back. K.C. can immediately feel the blush spread across her face, and her boldness shocks her enough that she loosens grip just slightly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa seems to take the opening that K.C. hadn’t meant to give her, and the next thing she knows her feet have been lifted off the ground and she’s thrown over the blonde’s back. She can see shock in Marisa’s eyes, so at least she knows she wasn’t the only one surprised by the way the spar has turned out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. has the thought that Marisa looks beautiful, slightly sweaty and hair beginning to slip from her bun, it’s not a look Marisa normally sports, but it takes K.C.’s breath away all the same until Marisa jumps down to pin her and K.C. realizes now she really can’t breath. Her arms are pinned above her head, and she wishes Marisa would kiss her, until she sees a vacant look in Marisa’s eyes and takes her chance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. hooks her leg around Marisa’s hip and flips them. Mirroring the pin Marisa just had her in, K.C. takes a moment to truly appreciate the position they’re in. K.C. has Marisa pinned by the hips, and her wrists are held in K.C.’s hands tight enough that K.C. can feel the beat of a racing pulse. There’s less than a handspan of space between them, lips hovering above inches apart, almost daring K.C. to close the distance. She wants to. She has never wanted to kiss someone as bad as she has wanted to kiss Marisa in this moment, and she catches herself beginning to move closer when she hears Ernie screaming. It sounds like he and Judy are fighting again, and her parents would kill her if they broke something while she was left in charge again. So K.C. forces herself away from Marisa’s lips and goes to yell at her siblings for ruining what could have been her only chance to be this brave.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite her dad constantly saying he would never let her date, until he was dead or she was forty, K.C. knew he was the only one she really felt comfortable talking to about relationships. Especially when he kept buying her small things with rainbows on them and just smiling as she questions him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So K.C. comes out, or at least tells him that she really likes Marisa, and he laughs and says he knows, and she feels a little better. She’s not going to tell him about the spar, or about how frequently she seems to zone out while staring at the other girl, but she feels comfortable enough to ask him for advice on what to do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gives some boasting story about how he got Kira to love him, and maybe she should have gone to her mother if she wanted useful advice. Her father tells her she should just go for it, anyone would be lucky to have her, but she doesn’t really know how to go about asking Marisa out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She only has a few hours to think about it before her mother has whisked her off to another mission, something about a juvenile detention facility and recruiting for the other side. She had thought it would be a day, two max, to find the other side recruiter and then she would be home to continue stressing about her romantic life. Only then, it’s been three days, and her mom is telling her she needs to become top dog of the detention facility to reveal the informant so she ends up in a boxing ring going against Scar. Boxing is one of her least favourite ways of fighting, but she knows some form of at least seventeen martial arts, and Scar is a hurt teen who’s been lashing out in destructive ways. Plus K.C. doesn’t think Scar has ever had to fight a super strong child sized robot who can flip you as easy as she moves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Scar still gets in some lucky shots, definitely bruising some ribs, but K.C. is more than holding her own in the ring. So Scar has never lost? She’s about to lose now. K.C. was sick of this stupid place and wanted to get out of here. Scar is sporting a bloody nose now, and K.C. is preparing to move in for the final hits when they’re separated and her mom lets her know that there was a much easier way she could have won this fight. A sonic disruptor type mouth guard that would have been useful two minutes ago when her ribs were being smacked around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But K.C. wins. Then the very night she’s supposed to take down the recruiter, her mom says goodbye and she ends up in a training facility for The Other Side. She went from a dangerous detention centre to an actual life-threatening enemy facility.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had only been three days, and all she had learned so far was that the other recruits actually liked her, and teenagers could find any time or place to make out, even teenagers for an enemy organization. It made her think of Marisa. Then Brett had shown up and the mission got more complicated. He didn’t give her up, and she didn’t really trust him, but he was at least a familiar face during the next four days of her stay. When the trainers start seriously investigating the mole threat, Brett tries to get her out, but she has a mission and she needs to complete it. Unfortunately for her the hunt for the mole brings the biggest trainer to the exact room she’s in and K.C. can only do her best to fight two fully grown men with more years of training and more strength. She beats one, only to feel the weight of the big guy kick down on her shoulder, before he throws her completely into the wall. She knows that that’s gonna bruise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s almost done for, until Brett has a sudden change of heart. She still doesn’t trust Brett, and avoids it when he tries to kiss her, but she escapes with her life, and for that, she is completely serious when she offers him the chance to come back to the organization.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hasn’t seen Marisa in almost a week and a half, and her body is starting to hurt on the helicopter ride back, but she’s going to see her family, and Marisa, and she’ll heal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s her mom who meets her when she finally gets back to the organization. Her mom holds her hand while she drifts during the check-up with the organization’s on-call doctor, and she gets a clean bill of health with instructions to rest to heal her bruises.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. gets back to her house around one a.m., fully expecting everyone to be asleep. She’s mostly right, Ernie is asleep on the couch and Judy had powered down for the night, but her father is wide awake holding Ernie’s head up, and Marisa is sitting beside her father staring at K.C. with wide eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After hugs from her parents, and instructions to rest, K.C. finally turns to Marisa. She must look battered. She had switched out of The Other Side uniform she had been in, wearing an organization official training tank top, which definitely revealed too much of the bruise blossoming on her shoulder. Her arm had been put into a sling, to help keep some of the strain off since apparently, having a 6’5, 210 pound man slam his foot into your shoulder is bad for you. Her mother had kissed some bruises on her face, after informing K.C. she definitely had a black eye.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could almost see the moment Marisa realized this mission didn’t end as well as it could have. Marisa has tears shining in her eyes, and has raised her hands to cover her mouth as she looks at K.C..</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. is tired, and her crush is looking at her like she might break, so instead of talking, K.C. just links their hands together, dragging Marisa up to her room and pushing her onto the bed. Marisa hasn’t stopped looking like K.C. is going to fall apart, so she pulls Marisa’s hand to the tank top, and makes her friend help her take it off. She’s hot and tired, and she hurts all over, so K.C. pushes the blonde down and curls into her chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a week of dealing with The Other Side and surviving a mission that could have, and almost did, end with her death, K.C. has her first good sleep in weeks, falling asleep to the sound of Marisa’s heartbeat.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Aftermath to the End</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The spy thing was a secret. K.C. was not supposed to tell her, and Marisa was not supposed to tell anyone else what she had been told, but K.C. had left on a ‘two-day max’ mission, and the Cooper’s had told her K.C. was visiting family when it started to drag longer, and after a week and a half she was beginning to lose her patience. Marisa was at the Cooper household, because she and Ernie had something in common other than their knowledge of Marisa’s crush, so they were playing video games.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kira, who had been gone for three days, had gotten a phone call that had left her frantic. The family had tried to persuade her to leave, before trying to use the excuse of a family crisis and Marisa had snapped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Robot,” She pointed at Judy, “Computer Guy,” pointed at ernie, “Spies,” gesturing between Kira and Craig, “I know, I know K.C. is on a mission and it wasn’t supposed to take this long, so someone tell me what’s happening before I lose it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had been worried that Kira or Craig would grab the memory spray, and she was on edge waiting, she didn’t think she could ever hurt them, not after everything they had done for her, but Marisa would run. She refused to forget. Though it was supposed to be a six-hour limit, they couldn’t take days, let alone months from her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So Craig and Kira had told her that K.C. had called for backup, from an Other Side facility, and Kira needed to go because she was on the rescue detail. Craig had wanted to go as well, but the rescue detail was already full of on call agents so instead they gathered in the living room and waited.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Craig asked her questions. Basic things like how long she had know, and she didn’t want to get K.C. in trouble, but if she was ever going to date his daughter, he would appreciate her honesty. She had told him the truth, K.C. had lied about erasing Marisa’s memory and they had kept it a secret the whole time. He ran out of questions fairly quick and they ended up sitting in silence. Ernie and Judy eventually fell asleep and powered down, but Marisa and Craig couldn’t sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The door opened at one a.m. and Marisa wanted to cry. Her best friend, the person she was basically in love with at this point, was standing practically dead on her feet. Though Marisa couldn’t see her back, she could see the edges of a shoulder bruise that was already dark and angry. K.C.’s shoulder was in a sling, and she had a black eye. There were various other scratches and bruises, but those were the two important injuries Marisa could see. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could barely focus as K.C. pulled her up the stairs and into K.C.’s bedroom, but she definitely started paying attention when she was shoved onto the bed. Marisa was torn between focusing on her very present crush and what being pushed onto a bed was doing to her heart, and putting her focus into helping K.C. take off her shirt, which also wasn’t helping her heart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa didn’t want to look, but staring at K.C. was the only thing she seemed to be able to do until she was pushed onto her back. K.C. quickly came and curled into her chest and Marisa had no idea what to say. Her friend had been hurt, and Marisa had never wanted to fight a group of people completely equipped to kill her so badly before. K.C. was asleep and snoring within minutes and Marisa tried to follow her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Except, K.C. had left her blinds open, and now that Marisa’s eyes had adjusted to the light coming in from the full moon outside, and now she was in a position where she could see K.C.’s back. Like almost all of her back, and the huge bruise that was taking up most of the space. It was a blurry line between where the back bruise started and the shoulder bruise ended, but Marisa knew they were two separate injuries, she had listened when Craig had received Kira’s brief about what to expect when K.C. came home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The taller girl had never seemed as small as she did laying in Marisa’s arms that night. It was sometime later that Marisa fell asleep, but the open blinds let in sunlight that shone directly into her eye hours later. K.C. was still asleep, curled into Marisa as she held her arm around the other girl. The bruise was worse in the daylight. An angry mess of dark blues and purples, with some spots of black peering through. Marisa had to bite back tears as she looked at her friend, and she wished she was more capable, or stronger, and could do anything to help her when things like this happen to K.C.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been a few weeks since K.C. had mostly finished healing from her mission. Marisa had spent most of the healing process by the other girl’s side. Craig had sat her down a few days into her stay with the Cooper’s, as unofficial as it was (she just never left their house other than to grab clothes), and had handed her what Marisa could only describe as an official Cooper Family Mug. Everyone in the family had one, all done in their favourite colour with their names written on it, even Judy despite the fact that she never eats, so Marisa had been a little surprised to see a pink mug with her name on it. Craig had just smiled and touched her shoulder, before asking the house if anyone wanted hot cocoa, and that was that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The hot cocoa was of course delicious, and when she had brought some to K.C., the other girl had rewarded her by cuddling into her side. The pain meds had made K.C. drowsy, so usually they spent a few hours drifting through TV channels while K.C. cuddled into her on the couch. Not that Marisa ever complained.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But now, K.C. was healed, or mostly healed if you noticed the still yellow spots on her back, and she was returning to much more active duty. She had done a slew of stakeouts recently, but K.C. had told Marisa that there was an undercover mission coming up that K.C. had been volunteered for by her father.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. had been gone for a few days, so all Marisa could do was wait for her to come back. Ernie was on the mission with K.C. so Marisa was spending her days with people from the newspaper. Marisa wasn’t expecting K.C. to be back for a few days still, but right before lunch, she received a text from K.C., letting her know the other girl would be arriving soon to talk to her about the mission. Marisa had told K.C. she was going to grab some fro-yo for lunch, and had told K.C. to either meet her there or wait for her to head back to the school.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa was absorbed in her phone waiting for the server to call her order, when some guy had come up to her with an overused pickup line. He was cute, but only in the way that he reminded her of K.C. and if there was one thing Marisa avoided in anyone she dated, it was similarity to the exact person she had been trying to get over. Plus, despite no confirmation on anything, Marisa wasn’t going to be giving up on her crush on K.C. anytime soon, so as far as this ‘Guy’ was concerned, she was explicitly not interested.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Until ‘Guy’ had revealed himself to be K.C. in disguise, and now Marisa knew she could have a lot more fun with this. K.C. needed her to go to a school dance, so K.C. would have to woo her a little first before she would say yes, even though she would have said yes even if K.C. hadn’t wanted to go with her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The formal itself was nothing to write home about, a bunch of young guys in uniform while their dates dressed up. The decoration was nothing special, but Marisa was still going to count this as her first dance with K.C.. Unfortunately for her, the first dance was a mission, and the mission always comes first when K.C. is involved. That didn’t mean she couldn’t tease K.C. about the lack of flowers and random cute boys she spotted. And if K.C. wanted to rush off to finish her mission, the least she could do was hold Marisa’s hand and give her one dance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa positioned K.C.’s hands on her body, and helped K.C. lead her through a spin. When she spun back into K.C.’s arms, the other girl was smiling down at her, since Marisa had opted for flats. Her hand ended up splayed against K.C.’s chest and their faces were mere inches apart. Then Ernie interrupted </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span> and K.C. really had to go, leaving Marisa to mingle with the ladies who’s partners also were not dancing with them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa had been asked to dance by more guys than she would have thought for an event where they were bringing dates, but she ignored them in favour of chatting with the women and waiting for K.C.. Then K.C. came back into the dance, leading a tall skinny kid before moving to deal with some guy named Spencer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa wasn’t quite following all of the drama of punking, and who’s side people were taking, but Marisa certainly recognized the threat when Spencer shoved K.C.. Her eyes widened when Spencer actually tried to hit K.C. and Marisa tried to pay attention to the words coming out of her friend’s mouth, but all she was focused on was watching K.C. duck and dodge. Marisa was nervous though she had no reason to be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suppressing a cheer when K.C. managed to grab Spencer’s wrist and force him to his knees, Marisa had to hold her breath when he got back up and started swinging wildly. K.C. avoided every hit with more finesse and skill than everyone in the room possessed combined.  K.C. was more than attractive right now, even with the weird ‘Guy’ skin mask. K.C. was always attractive, but when she fought? K.C. was definitely hot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then K.C. tripped Spencer, leading him to land flat on his back, as K.C. revealed herself to be a woman. The smile that tore across Marisa’s face couldn’t be contained as everyone around her gasped. Marisa stayed in the gym, as Spencer was dealt with and the supervisors of the school tried to determine whether the dance should continue. They instructed K.C. to gather her things and leave, and Marisa followed her into the hall. It wasn’t until they were a turn away from the gym doors that Marisa caught up to K.C., and as soon as her hand slid into K.C.’s, the other girl pushed her into the wall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lips were on hers the same moment her back hit the wall, and Marisa could do nothing but slide her hands into K.C.’s free hair and pull her closer. She idly wondered if K.C. knew how Marisa thought it was hot when K.C. fought, but she wasn’t about to separate long enough to ask. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One of K.C.’s hands had found its way to the small of Marisa’s back, while the other was on her neck. There was a thumb brushing Marisa’s cheek as fingers pulled gently at the hair on the nape of Marisa’s neck. Her knees were weak, and had K.C. not been pressing her into the wall, Marisa was sure she would have fallen over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A buzzing from K.C.’s communicator led them to pull apart long enough for K.C. to pull it to her ear and growl a harsh ‘what’ towards whoever was on the other end. Marisa could only watch in fascination as K.C. rolled her eyes at the quiet sound of Ernie’s voice she could hear on the other side of the line. K.C.’s hand was still resting on the side of her neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. told Ernie to get his stuff and get out by the time she gets there and then she hung up the communicator. They spent a moment just staring at each other, before Marisa pulled K.C. in to kiss her again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They lost track of time quickly after that, only pulling away when the need to breathe became too strong to ignore. Though K.C. did jump away from her when they heard voices down the hall, and after a quick uniform straighten and an exchange of smiles, K.C. had lead Marisa to the room she had been staying in the past week. Ernie had apparently followed K.C.’s orders and his side of the room was empty when they arrived. K.C. had grabbed her bags from under the bed before they were interrupted by a knock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa had taken over packing for K.C. when she had whispered it was the Organization’s contact and she had to debrief. K.C. had been gone for ten minutes at most, but Marisa was nothing if not an efficient packer, and was done before the other girl got back in the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. had opened the door seeming surprised that Marisa was done, before she mumbled that they had thirty minutes to pack. So Marisa did the only thing she could think of, She pulled K.C. towards her by the collar and began to kiss her again.K.C. walked them backwards until Marisa tripped onto one of the beds, pulling K.C. down on top of her. Marisa kept their mouths connected and moved her hands back into K.C.’s hair, using her nails to scratch lightly on the other girl’s scalp. K.C. released a breathy moan into Marisa’s mouth and her only response was groaning into the kiss. One of Marisa’s hands drifted away from K.C.’s hair to find the buttons of her uniform. Though Marisa would admit that K.C. in a uniform was certainly a good look, the bulk of the jacket was preventing Marisa from feeling K.C.’s biceps, and therefore it had to go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa’s fingers made quick work of the buttons, before becoming stuck at the belt. K.C. shifted position, maintaining the kiss while balancing on her knees to remove her belt herself. The jacket was thrown behind K.C., leaving K.C. in the school’s button-down uniform. Marisa lost her patience and pulled the shirt free from where it had been tucked, and pulled into the buttons either came off, or managed to open. Using her one hand, Marisa pushed the shirt off of K.C.’s shoulders and her hand finally found purchase on one of K.C.’s defined biceps. K.C.’s hands drifted to Marisa’s chest, tracing mindless patterns and alternating between splaying her fingers just below Marisa’s breast and holding her ribs to feel the other girl breathe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were lost in each other, making out as if they had all the time in the world. The harsh reminder of reality came as another beep from K.C.’s communicator moments before Ernie’s voice sounded from the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Apparently their half hour was basically almost over, and the organization contact was here to escort them off the school grounds. K.C. had to quickly refasten her suit jacket, though the uniform below was definitely not going to be a quick fix. While K.C. refastened, Marisa had to fix her hair and lipstick. They were put together in just a few minutes, and out the door with both of K.C.’s bags attempting to appear as if they had just spent some time packing. The contact gave Marisa a look, like he didn’t understand why she was still here, but Ernie had taken one look at K.C. and immediately started chuckling. Ernie only stopped when K.C. pretended to punch him behind the contact’s back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a first kiss, Marisa knew this would always be here favourite, even if K.C. eventually moved on from whatever they could be.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3><p> </p><p>
  <span>A couple months of go by, and Marisa and K.C. have celebrated a lot together. K.C. turned seventeen, so Ernie could finally stop making jokes about Marisa being a cougar just because there was a year’s difference between them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was Christmas now, and the Cooper family had invited Marisa to celebrate with them. She normally does anyways, she hasn’t spent a Christmas day with her family since she was eleven and her parents had both decided to work as much as they could during the Holiday season. She had shown up at the Cooper household later that day because she couldn’t figure out the reheating instructions her mother had left her for the oven, so Kira had told her she was going to spend some time with the Cooper family. Marisa had been a Christmas constant since then, and dating their daughter didn’t change Craig and Kira’s minds about her presence in the slightest. If anything, they had taken even greater steps to include her in the Cooper family traditions this year than the years before, which is how Marisa found herself driving with K.C. to pick up Craig’s father from the airport after they had spent an afternoon shopping for last minute presents.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Poppa Earl, as he had insisted Marisa call him, liked her a lot more than Grandma Gayle, so Marisa decided he was now her favourite grandparent figure in K.C.’s life. He also thought they were cute together, which definitely helped his standing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course, as soon as they had all returned to the Cooper household, the Christmas time celebrations had quickly fallen apart, with Poppa Earl and Craig fighting, and K.C. excusing everyone upstairs for a mission leaving Marisa downstairs to distract Earl. She remembered him saying he was a doctor, so Marisa decided the easiest way of distracting him was to show him the super gross thing on her elbow, from when Ernie had hit her with an experimental gadget, and K.C. had experimentally hit him in the head in response.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Poppa Earl thought her elbow was disgusting, which was great for the distraction, but not so great for her feelings towards the injury which looked better now than it had a week ago. The distraction worked until the oven beeped behind them and Marisa had to grab the cookies to prevent them from burning, and when she turned around Poppa Earl was gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hearing distant shouting, Marisa had thought it best to ignore it until she watched Kira and Ernie disappear out the back door in their all black spy clothes. Then Craig, K.C., and Earl had all come down with arguments still spewing. K.C. had kissed Marisa once very quickly before asking her to stay and ‘watch’ Judy while she took out her father and grandfather, and Marisa could only agree.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wouldn’t be a Cooper holiday if something didn’t go wrong so Marisa wasn’t at all shocked when Kira called her and told her that K.C. got hit with a laser, they’d be home in fifteen, and if Marisa could ‘please preheat the oven to 425 that would be awesome’, before Kira hung up without even allowing Marisa to know if K.C. was okay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Cooper clan came back, Poppa Earl was bragging about his son’s spy skills so he knew now, and K.C.’s new jacket had a laser sized hold in the left arm, revealing white gauze underneath. Marisa immediately drifted towards her girlfriend, slipping the jacket from her arm in a move that has long become practiced, and then she drops a feather-light kiss just above where the gauze ends. After bringing her face close, she can smell the disinfectant and the burnt flesh that always accompanies laser wounds, so she does her best to ignore the beginnings of red seeping into the white gauze and just hugs K.C. as she tells her it’s okay. She’s safe, and they’re still together. That’s all that will ever matter.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<h3>
  <span>/</span>
</h3><p> </p><p>
  <span>They say ‘I love you’ all the time. When they first see each other after being apart for a few days (or a few hours), when they’re saying goodbye, when either of them does something nice, or when they’re near the Cooper family and one of them really wants to tell the other how hot they are but they can’t in front of the family. Examples of the last one include the first time Marisa had been invited to train with the family and the last time she was allowed to partner with K.C., which had resulted in a very quick pin and an even quicker makeout before Marisa had breathlessly whispered ‘I love you’ to the girl leaning above her, and the one time the Cooper’s had all managed to take a vacation to the nearby lake when Marisa had come up from the lake dripping wet and K.C. had nearly swooned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They say I love you, but neither of them has really said ‘I’m in love with you’ yet, though Marisa figures she’ll be the first. She’s known she was in love with K.C. since she was a pre-teen. Her love has only grown, and no one can really pinpoint when K.C. began crushing on her in return or when K.C. became aware of it. Even K.C. herself has trouble pinpoint when things started versus when she noticed and it had led to many arguments in the Cooper family.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As it stands now, K.C. and Marisa are supposed to be preparing for a camping trip with some of their friends. They had separated for a few hours to pack and prepare, now Marisa was just downstairs waiting for K.C. to finish choosing an outfit so they could leave. Hearing glass smash though, immediately sets Marisa on edge until she hears K.C. call out that she was fine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Twenty minutes go by, and Marisa is beginning to worry. Dating (and living, though they don’t really talk about it) a spy makes her a lot more paranoid than Marisa originally thought she would be, so with little thought to anything else, Marisa made her way upstairs and tried to listen to anything she could hear behind K.C.’s door. Hearing nothing, she opened the door and found Brett Willis pointing a gun at her girlfriend’s head. K.C. looks unaffected, sitting in her desk chair and filing her nails, but Brett looks pained. If panic wasn’t immediately gripping her chest, Marisa might pause to wonder why K.C. doesn’t seem bothered, but instead, in the most athletic feat of her life so far, Marisa lunges for Brett, knocking the gun from his hand and punches him square in the face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. laughs behind her, before lifting Marisa up and off of Brett before trying to explain that Brett was trying to eliminate her but couldn’t go through with it. Not that the explanation really made Marisa feel better, but Marisa had at least given Brett a bloody nose and K.C. was holding her instead of him to make sure Marisa was okay, so whatever. Point Marisa, no point Brett.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then later, when K.C. takes Brett to the bathroom and Ernie finds them and jumps on Brett, Marisa considers the score two for Coopers, zero for Brett, because all Ernie’s attack has done is make K.C. laugh louder and Brett remains looking as uncomfortable as possible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. explains to her brother that she and Brett both run the risk of being exterminated and it’s not safe for them to be here, so Marisa tries to help them get Brett out of the house, complaining that it’s a terrible idea the entire time, but K.C. means everything to Marisa, so she’ll do anything for the other girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It isn’t until the fro-yo run they do for Brett that Marisa finally manages to get K.C. alone to really express her concern, but K.C. reassures her they’ll get Brett restored to the organization and everything will work out. Any further complaints die on Marisa’s tongue when K.C. kisses her while they wait to pay, and again when they’ve collected their fro-yo.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa doesn’t completely trust Brett, and K.C.’s room is technically her room now too, so while K.C. goes to plead his case, Marisa holds a laser in her lap as she and Brett sit in silence and eat fro-yo. Marisa doesn’t understand why K.C. cares so much about what happens to Brett after everything he had done to her family, but Marisa is as supportive as ever. She’s especially supportive of Kira bursting into the room with laundry on her hip when the matriarch notices Brett and proceeds to kick the crap out of him while Marisa watches.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. comes home minutes later, and Marisa retreats to Ernie’s room to avoid the incoming argument that Brett, K.C., Kira, and Craig are about to have. K.C. sends a text that she’s going to try to help Brett and she’ll be back soon, but that’s the last Marisa hears from K.C. until a few hours later when she comes home to debrief and lets everyone know she almost died.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Apparently, Brett’s crazy ex-girlfriend drove off a cliff with K.C. inside her car, after a high stakes car chase. The family takes a moment to give K.C. and Marisa a moment so Marisa can hold her girlfriend and check her for injuries. Marisa can feel Brett’s eyes on them as they rest their foreheads together, but she knows he looks away when Marisa kisses K.C., just to ensure she’s really there and safe. He might not be over K.C., because really, who could ever be over K.C., but Marisa was a little possessive in her relationships, and she was definitely letting him know that K.C. was officially off the market.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brett wants to get fro-yo before he goes off with his new identity, so Marisa goes with the Cooper siblings because she is not letting K.C. out of her sight. Even if Crazy Ex is dead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa decides she made the smart choice, when Crazy Ex makes another appearance, but there isn’t much she can really do in the situation other than be pulled away by Ernie and watch as Crazy Ex smashes stuff over Brett’s head, and kicks her girlfriend into a wall. Marisa watches Brett go down and starts getting worried, but then K.C. throws Crazy Ex through the glass of the counter and they head out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brett, for some reason, ends up driving the Cooper family car, so K.C. grabs Marisa’s hands and pulls her into the back seat, leaving Ernie to the passenger seat. Marisa doesn’t even manage to text Kira or Craig an update like they had asked, when K.C. takes everyone’s phones and throws them out the window. The only reason Marisa isn’t more upset is because K.C. immediately whispers that she’ll get Marisa a new one, and she can’t really stay mad at her girlfriend for that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They end up in Marisa’s cabin, though she hasn’t been there since she was six, and she immediately tries to distract herself by making everyone dinner since it’s either that or worry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. pulls her aside after dinner, while Marisa is trying to go towards the bathroom, but being pressed into a wall and kissed breathless by her girlfriend is a much better alternative than what Marisa has in mind, and she feels a little less afraid when K.C. pulls away and tells Marisa that she loves her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They end up scattered around the living room to sleep. Ernie is somehow comfortable on a small chair, Brett is occupying the bear rug one the ground, and despite the height difference, Marisa is the big spoon as her and K.C. take the couch. Marisa had been pretending to sleep, exhausted and scared she just wanted to hold K.C. and not have to talk to Brett but Brett had taken the quiet to finally voice his confession. Revealing to K.C. that he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘in love with her’</span>
  </em>
  <span>, K.C. sighed in response and told him to go to sleep. Marisa tightened her hold on K.C., only to have lasers shoot through the cabin window.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Quickly preparing some kind of cover, Brett and K.C. took charge of the situation, and Brett pulled two laser guns out of hiding, handing one off to K.C. with a ‘I got your back, babe’. Which, at this point, was just annoying Marisa. Her annoyance did help her realize that this was not in fact her family's cabin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the midst of the chaos, Ernie and K.C. seemed to exchange a look, and then Ernie was determined to protect Marisa. They went through the back room of the cabin, smashing the window in the process as Ernie forced Marisa through the window while she tried to fight against him to get back to K.C.. Marisa didn’t have a plan, but she knew K.C. wanted her safe, and she had no training to protect herself or her girlfriend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ernie and Marisa were still behind the cabin, when they heard the car blow in the front yard. Ernie locked his grip onto her wrist and began pulling her towards the closest cabin while she watched Brett try to help K.C. out of the window behind them as the duo headed towards the horses. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crazy Ex was clearly going to pursue Brett and K.C., they were her target, but that just made Marisa worry more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She helped Ernie steal a car, though she didn’t know how she felt about it, and as soon as they got it running, Marisa was flooring it in the direction K.C. had disappeared in. The road they followed was not made for a car, and though Ernie complained in the seat beside her, Marisa went as fast as she could while her eyes frantically searched for her girlfriend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few short minutes later, Marisa could see two bodies on the ground, and Marisa stopped breathing. She slammed her foot into the brakes, stopping twenty paces behind the closest rider, and Marisa could brown hair and one of her girlfriend’s favourite flannels, and the relief that flooded through Marisa’s body was almost too much.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brett and Crazy Ex were both on the ground and Marisa didn’t spare them another thought while she ran towards her girlfriend. K.C. noticed her in time to slide from her horse and intercept the jumping hug. Marisa wrapped her arms around K.C.’s neck, kissing her girlfriend with everything she had. Marisa pulled away long enough to meet K.C.’s eyes. “I’m in love with you,” Marisa whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>K.C. had smiled in response, “I’m in love with you, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brett was groaning over to their right, and Ernie was busy detaining Crazy Ex somewhere to their left, but all Marisa could focus on was K.C.’s beating heart beneath her, her girlfriend’s pulse in her ear, the fact that K.C. was alive and okay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a blur after that. Marisa had to help Ernie tend to Crazy Ex’s wounds, because there was a possibility of her bleeding out, and K.C. had said that they would need her alive for the organization. Marisa had paused in her first aid, glancing at the wound as she realized that K.C. could have killed someone, but Marisa couldn’t bring herself to care when Crazy Ex had hurt her girlfriend and was part of the Other Side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The organization had met them a half hour from the Cooper’s house, but K.C. had been given enough warning to drop Marisa and Ernie off before the higher-ups could come collect Crazy Ex, and potentially Brett as well depending on how well K.C. convinced them of his worth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Organization had been furious that K.C. had harboured a known fugitive, but she had also brought down one of the Other Side’s best trackers and Brett was in custody instead of in the wind, and K.C. wouldn’t admit anyone else in her family had helped her, so no one else got in trouble and K.C. received a two week probation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marisa and Ernie had walked by K.C. and the Organization, Crazy Ex had been in cuffs, and Brett had been in cuffs as well, but he had been laughing with whoever was holding him. By the time Ernie and Marisa had gotten back, Kira and Craig were worried sick and K.C. still wasn’t home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ernie explained everything the best he could, and part way through his explanation, K.C. returned and immediately clung to Marisa’s back with a pout.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kira and Craig had been happy that none of them had been seriously hurt, and everyone was relieved there were no harsh consequences for harbouring an Other Side agent, so the family exchanged hugs and separated. K.C. had kissed Marisa’s ear before disappearing up into their room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time Marisa made it upstairs, K.C. was shirtless. Marisa blushed, still, because K.C. was always beautiful to look at. K.C. rushed over to Marisa, kissing her nose, before holding the blonde at arms length. “Did you mean it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mean what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you mean what you said when you said you loved me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Always, Kace, always.” And Marisa meant it. No matter the struggles, no matter the time, Marisa would always love K.C., and she knew K.C. would always love her.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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